Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Policy Forum logo can be downloaded here.
The rate at which Wisconsin public school teachers left their districts has declined since its pandemic peak but remained elevated in the 2024-25 school year. Meanwhile, principal and superintendent turnover has not stabilized, with a new swing upward in 2025.
For now, it is too early to tell whether the recent declines in teacher turnover indicate that the profession is on a path back toward pre-pandemic levels, or if schools are facing a new, elevated norm. While some level of turnover is to be expected and may even be beneficial, too much churn destabilizes schools, discourages staff and students, harms student outcomes, and costs districts valuable resources.
Our analysis finds that, on average, a disproportionate impact of educator turnover falls on certain Wisconsin communities. Chief among these are the state’s smallest districts, districts serving a majority of low-income students or students of color, city districts, and teachers of color.
When analyzing turnover, it can help to distinguish between “moves” and “leaves.” A “move” is when a teacher shifts from teaching in one Wisconsin school district to teaching in another. A “leave” is when a teacher is no longer listed as such in the statewide public data set. This could be because the teacher left the profession, took a teaching job at a private school, or moved to another state. The latest data confirm that leaves are the main source of turnover.
The state’s largest district, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), serves a high needs student population and faces competition for both students and teachers from surrounding school districts and robust charter and private choice options. These factors and others have historically left MPS with above-average levels of teacher turnover. The district’s fortunes may be changing, however. Following an 8% pay raise for staff in the 2024 school year, turnover in the district dropped in 2025 – making it only the second year in our dataset that MPS logged lower turnover than the statewide average.
Educator turnover is hard to predict, and today’s economic and political uncertainties make it even more so. Still, districts may ground their projections and plans in some persistent trends. Since leaves are the top driver of turnover – and one component of them, retirements, is largely inevitable – policy and district leaders may wish to focus on reducing turnover into other professions.
Compensation can play a critical role in reducing turnover. Future wage increases may be a difficult proposition for many districts, however, if their revenue sources do not increase proportionately or if they cannot identify other expenditures to cut. Finally, any statewide efforts to stem turnover or otherwise address educator workforce issues should consider the disproportionate impact of turnover on certain communities.
This information is provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members as a service of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. Learn more at wispolicyforum.org.
